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3 STRIKES and 4 Ps

One will help you avoid a trip to DC, the other is good to know if you are in DC

FTC Standard for Judging Adver4sing Disclosure

Washington Irish Pub

In the Beginning

A New Phenomenon
Social Media Ad Spending Jumps 50% between 2009 and 2011 By 2012 nearly 75 percent of Fortune 500 has a TwiSer account, 2/3rds have Facebook Page

Rise of Mobile PlaWorm Increases Importance of Proximity

A MulU-PlaWorm World

Hyperlinks

If its important tell them why or what it is about; do not just have a link with term disclaimer or other non-descripUve language.

Pass or Fail?
Hyperlinked Text: Restocking fee applies to all returns. Leads to: If you return the Frost-a-tron within 30 days there is a restocking fee of $19.95. Aber 30 days and before 90 days, the restocking fee is $29.95. Aber 90 days, the restocking fee is $49.95. Shipping and handling fees are non-refundable. No COD on returns.

Pass or Fail?
Hyperlinked Text: Restocking fee applies to all returns. Leads to: If you return the Frost-a-tron within 30 days there is a restocking fee of $19.95. Aber 30 days and before 90 days, the restocking fee is $29.95. Aber 90 days, the restocking fee is $49.95. Shipping and handling fees are non-refundable. No COD on returns. PASS The details in this return policy are likely too complex to disclose next to the guarantee. The label of the hyperlink adequately conveys the nature and relevance of the informaUon to which it leads.

UANHEHA SYNDROME

Use of Acronyms Nobody Has Ever Heard Of

Used FS To Denote Free Sample Provided To Reviewer Per Blogger Guidelines, But IneecUve Since Nobody Knows What It Means

The FTC on 140 Characters

To be conUnued . . . Subsequent tweet not proximate to prior tweet

FAIL

EvaluaUng Disclaimers Context is King

HI, I MAKE SURE YOU DONT PAY ATTENTION TO DISCLAIMERS

SIZE AND CONTRAST MATTER

PainUng a Clear Picture?

The blogger in this example obtained the paint she is reviewing for free and must disclose that fact. Although she does so at the end of her blog post, there are several hyperlinks before that disclosure that could distract readers and cause them to click away before they get to the end of the post. Given these distracUons, the disclosure likely is not clear and conspicuous.

Going Double on NegaUves

Because the negaUve opUon in this example (enrollment in a recipe club) addresses a dierent subject than the main oer (cookware), the adverUser should take special care to ensure that the disclosure of the negaUve opUon is clear and conspicuous. In this case, requiring consumers to armaUvely acknowledge the disclosure by clicking on one of the two boxes on the second page neither of which has been preselected before they can proceed to checkout, should achieve that goal.

Bennet Kelley
Founder of the Internet Law Center and past co-chair of the California Bar Cyberspace CommiSee. Host of Cyber Law & Business Report on Webmaster Radio. Publisher of award-winning Cyber Report. Internet Law Center 100 Wilshire #950 Santa Monica, CA 90401
www.internetlawcenter.net

TwiSer: InternetLawCent Blog: ILCCyberReport.wordpress.com